Dangerous Territory
by CrazyInSye
Summary: When Rev and Rip were kids they went on all sorts of adventures...usually at the whim of Rev's begging, making Rip forever to tag along. One time they explored someone strange in the canyon. But terrifying as it was the brothers stood strong together.


Yet again Rip was left to wonder how his brother had gotten him to go along on another one of his so called 'adventures'. Frankly, he could never exactly pinpoint the moment when Rev's begging would get to him. He guessed it was probably sometime around the 110th "please" after countless attempts at protest. He was usually quite good at warding Rev off when he really wanted to, though perhaps that was his weakness this time; his brother had actually captured his attention.

There they were at 6-o-clock in the evening: crouched behind a cactus on the far end of the canyon, about 3 miles running distance from home and about 200 feet from the house of the notorious Nava'san, translated by the more native residents to mean the "Desert Man". Supposedly, he was the most fearsome creature in the gorge…that is, according to the stories he and Rev had heard from the kids at school. And of course that meant that Rev wanted to go check it out because what would his brother be if not too curious for his own good and what would he be if not the faithful sidekick to these abundantly daring situations. In truth he did share his brother's interest in this 'Desert Man' subject, however, that wouldn't stop him from complaining.

"Why do I always go along with your crazy ideas?" Rip whispered harshly behind his brother, "I'll tell ya why, because you trick me, that's why! Just wait 'til Pop finds out about this one, I'm gonna be in so much trouble because'a you ya know that? Look! The sun's already starting to set, we're not gonna get back in time for dinner so both of our tails are in for it! But I'm gonna get in the most trouble. They'll let YOU slide again cuz you're….YOU."

Rip paused with an irritated scowl directed at the back of his brother's purple comb. And yet it seemed like Rev hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention as he peeked around the side of the cactus. Hiding his face behind a large flower bud, he was focusing intently on the single lit window of the unusually simple looking dwelling.

Rip's expression deadpanned at his brother's lack of response. With a discontented sigh he awkwardly shifted into a sitting position and then, when comfortable leaning against the side of a clay rock, listlessly rolled his head back towards his brother and studied the boy for a few moments.

He noticed that Rev was thin like any normal kid roadrunner but toned in a way that was obvious enough for an eleven-year-old, probably due to all his boy scouting activities. Looking at him crouched with one knee and both hands on the ground, he looked ready to spring up and dash off at a moment's notice. He was always like that Rip noted. He was also dressed for such an adventure, as was his usual style. Though whenever he was really serious about one of these undertakings he wore a tool sash over his standard t-shirt and cargo suit, and he was wearing his favorite red striped running shoes. Rip thought of his own light blue t-shirt and black cargo shorts, silently wondering if his old red Acmeverse sneakers would hold up if they had to make some sort of unanticipated life-or-death sprint. Suddenly Rip was jolted out of his musings by a sharp gasp.

"We have contact!" Rev whispered zealously, speedily motioning an arm back towards his brother without taking his eyes off the lodge.

Rip scrambled back onto his feet and nearly knocked Rev into the cactus to get a look. The lights were on in the dwelling and the brothers watched as a shadowed figure moved between the rooms. The creature was tall and large with a bulky box shape. It moved with a slow ease that tested the roadrunners' patience as they observed what other boys of their ages had only dreamed about.

"The Nava'san… " they whispered simultaneously, giving each other a knowing glance of awe. During this exchange Rip's expression stayed silent and quizzical, in contrast, it didn't take long for Rev's expression to form a steadily growing grin of mischievous excitement, the likes of which made Rip's stomach churn with apprehension.

Swiftly, Rev turned back towards the residence of the mysterious individual with wild ideas shining in his eyes; however, the other Runner was beginning to have his second thoughts. Subconsciously, he started to utter some sort of protest to whatever further actions he was sure Rev was considering they take. It manifested itself as a slight tug to his brother's arm in the opposite direction of the house.

"Uh…Rev..." Rip hesitated. "Maybe…we should…go. I mean we've seen the Desert Man, and we can tell all the guys back home. I'm sure it'll shut the Buzzard brothers up."

Rev jerked his head to the side, facing Rip with an expression of disbelief.

"And leave now while we're so close to actually seeing the guy? Unbelievable! Inconceivable! C'mon Rip, what kind of thinking is that?"

"Well, I'm just sayin' it's getting late and Ma's….gonna….worry…" Rip trailed off as Rev started to give him an intense glare. Even after he'd stopped talking Rev continued to glower at him, until he felt terribly uncomfortable.

"…WHAT?"

"Oh-nothing-nothing-at-all." Rev practiced the speedy voice his parents had, one that he only tested when he was trying to seem more mature. Rip pouted, realizing he was being patronized. "It's-just…" he trailed off, gracefully swiveling his head back towards the Desert Man's home.

Rip held a breath, and bit the underside of his beak, already prepared to be insulted.

Rev lifted an eyebrow and glanced towards his brother peripherally, then with a practiced sigh, he breathed, "I just didn't know my only brother was a **chicken**."

Rip objected with a light shove to Rev's shoulder. "Hey!" he spoke a little more than a whisper, to which Rev quickly shh'd. "Pop says nobody calls a roadrunner chicken!" he said barely any lower.

"Oh yeah?" Rev asked confidently. The boy's affirmative nod suited him just well. "Then prove it." he smirked.

And just like that Rip knew he'd been caught in another one of his brother's traps. He internally chastised himself; frustration evident in his ruffled his feathers. Then, with a begrudging frown towards his conniving kin he let out an aggravated sigh.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

"That's the spirit!" Rev chimed with an overenthusiastic grin, patting his brother on the back swiftly then turning back to the task at hand.

"Ok so here's the plan. We're gonna hav'ta do the ol' duck and dive on this one. Just like old times huh? Yeah, so let's do a few spy rolls to get over there, ya'know the kind like Auto-B.O.N.D. double zero one one in pop's old holo-films. And then I'll hide behind that ridge over there, and then…um, I guess we'll have to use stealth to get around the corner of the shack, and then I'll raise you up to see if you can get a peek at im'-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. ME? Why ME? I don't wanna get too close to that thing!"

"C'mon Rip it's only right if you do it, I'm not gonna have you try to hold me up just to drop me and blow our cover. Plus you're smaller anyway It'll be easier for me to lift you-"

"I'm not that much smaller-"

"You're two years smaller and that's small enough bro." the older answered with a light chuckle at his brother's pout as he tussled the boy's crest feathers.

Rip huffed crossing his arms, "Fine." There was a hint of discomfort in his voice that didn't go unnoticed.

"Aww don't be too upset. After all I'm givin ya the chance of a life time here, at least you'll get ta see im'…" Rev returned his brother's not yet amused expression with a halfhearted smile. Then, looking away for a moment, he grinned and pushed his brother jokingly, "Don't be so ungrateful! Here I am giving you a chance while I'll be stuck on the bottom with a face full of YOUR tail feathers." Rev chuckled and pulled the younger into a noogie.

Rip started to laugh as well, contagiously off his brother's giggles. "Ok, ok!" he managed to say, and Rev let him go.

"Ok, so we clear on the plan?" he asked sticking out his hand while spotting the silhouette in a different room on the far side of the house. "Yeah…" Rip said, shaking it, apprehension still apparent in his voice. His older brother patted his shoulder reassuringly and gave the signal for them to move out.

Then, the elder at the forefront, the two anthros sneakily made their way over to the dwelling; indeed by following Rev's instruction of hiding behind rock formations and rolling on the desert floor whenever possible. They reached the ridge around the corner from the dwelling, closer to the side that the creature was on, and were hidden by lines of cacti with the same buds along their sides. The boys exchanged glances, breathing shallow from the effort they endured. Then, instead of raising up to look over the low ridge, Rev bent down and, taking out a pocket mirror from his tool sash, used it to glance around the corner of their hiding spot.

A bit puzzled, Rip questioned his brother's actions. "This is always the way to sneak," Rev assured, "People expect to see your head popping up at a normal level, if you crouch down and use this, they won't be see you. So you're less easy to get caught."

The wondrous "Ohhh" from his little brother boosted his pride as he once again gave the signal to move forward. However this time, Rev dropped his body to the ground and began to crawl using his elbows like a soldier in a training course. Without question his little brother followed. Within this moment he gathered Rev was in control and trusted him since he was way outside his comfort zone.

This time, very carefully, the Runner brothers made their way across the desert floor, going as swift as they could-blue and purple feathers not the best camouflage against the golden sand of the canyon. In seconds they found themselves crouching just under the window. They looked up at the ledge noting that it would be a good few inches higher than Rev if the young anthro were to stand.

At this range they could hear whistling coming from inside the house. The two birds looked at each other while listening, unspoken confusion circulating between them. Was he trying to communicate? Did he know they were there? How specist of him to think that they would understand him if he did! The boys had often heard their father complaining about specism coming from the humans he worked with during his sales; though they had never experienced any of this, especially not from humans, whom they'd never seen within the canyon and only during rare trips to Acmetropolis City. Wait, no; they concluded that perhaps the creature was just whistling as they realized the tune was of a popular radio hit.

"What the?-umph!"

Rev silenced his brother by grabbing his beak. Although he himself hated that version of contact, at that moment it was crucial. The 'Desert Man' had stopped whistling and gasped after Rip had spoken.

There was a terrifyingly long pause. Rev's green eyes were as wide as saucers in his panic. Rip revealed the same expression though he didn't dare move the clamped hand on his beak. The moment was tense as the boys awaited the unknown; they tried in vain to keep their shallow breathing unheard. But to their dismay a sudden crash just above frayed their feathers in fear.

Instinctively grasping each other, both let out stifled shrieks. There were sounds of glass crashing. Heavy things falling with frightening thuds. Rip gripped his brother's arm forming a half hug in addition to Rev 's other arm which was across his back. The little brother could feel the pressure of Rev's palm on his shoulder blade, waiting protectively for the right moment to push the boy into action.

And then, an abnormal voice cried out! Low and moaning, like the scream of a great beast!

"GOOOOO AWAWYYYYYY!" the creature growled.

The two brothers didn't need much more incentive. Rev practically threw Rip towards the direction of their neighborhood; though the boy tripped and faltered without balance, nearly immobilized by fear. In a split second the roadrunners were doing what they did best. Rev grabbed Rip's arm and took off yelling "RUN!" in certain terror. His curiosity was effectively extinguished by thoughts of escape from what was sure to be some kind of ferocious monster as the other kids in the canyon had warned him.

As he led the sprint back towards their section of the canyon, his little brother trailing behind like nothing more than a rag doll in his clutches, all he could wonder was why he got himself into these situations. He was sure Rip wondered the exact same thing, and yet he didn't have the answer. He couldn't believe he had begged his brother to come out there with him now that he was sure he'd put them both in unmistakable danger. He felt so guilty, how could he jeopardize their lives like that? And yet, he knew he loved the thrill. And he was sure he'd find a way to do it all again.

"C'mon Rip! Pound the sand man! We gotta high-tail it!" Rev yelled slowing down just a bit to allow the other to catch his footing rather than be dragged across the desert.

"I told you this was a crazy idea!" Rip cried trying to keep up. "I'm never coming out with you again!"

But they both knew he would.

As the boys made their way to their side of the gorge, now far away from the mysterious home of the Nava'san, the creature within the dwelling stumbled outside, waving his arms in all directions.

"Shew! Shew I tells ya!" The haggard voice of a tan faced old human man grumbled at a horsefly which followed him out of the house. "Get on' Go'on GET! Ya gone n'caused me enough trouble." He said resentfully to the large insect as it went away.

The moment it was gone the man sighed and adjusted the box-like contraption nearly double his size situated on his back. For a short time the man looked out into the canyon and stared confusedly into the desert evening which carried what sounded like the cries of a couple of kids. But after a moment the man simply shrugged off the thought knowing that almost no one came to his part of the canyon, on account of the desert anthros purposeful isolation from human inhabitants. After resolving this, the old man brushed off his casual attire and retrieved a handheld scanner from the side of the machine behind him.

"Well, since THAT experiment was ruined…" he grumbled irritably thinking about the mess the fly had caused in his lab. "H'guess it's time for s'more samples." He said to himself while approaching a cactus on the ridge. He scanned the plant with his device just as the nighttime came and a bud upon the cactus bloomed into a beautiful milky white flower glowing in the dark.

The man had been studying these rare mutations within the plants for years in this desolate part of the gorge. He hadn't minded at first that the local anthro population preferred to avoid him, seeking less contact with humans in their communities formed around environmental commonalities. However after a several long years he did find himself lonely on occasion with no one to keep him company but the plants and the flies.

But he knew no one would ever come all the way out there to see him. After all, he'd learned that he'd become sort of notorious to be avoided; probably the work of all the anthro parents over the years who would rather their children have nothing to do with humans. Especially the birds, who resided closest to him and who he'd come to realize were the most protective of all the desert dwellers. Often preferring to stay in communities full of themselves, he'd found out that they often grow up around very few mammals at all. This made his area even lonelier by contrast.

But the Desert Man went on collecting data and proceeding with his tests. Heading back into his home he couldn't help but long for some company and regretted the fact that he had failed to persuade his younger brother to partake in this 'adventure' with him all those years ago; even after the 110th "please".


End file.
